República Bolivariana de Venezuela

Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educación.

U.E.P.C Nuestra Sra. de la Corteza
Acarigua - Portuguesa

Alzheimer's Disease

Integrantes:

Oriana Valera Nicole Yovera

Jesús Alvarado Sandra Gallardo
Angeli Vázquez Jonathan Camejo

Profesor: Fredy Escalona

 Index

What Is Alzheimer's? 3

What Does Alzheimer's Do to the Brain? 3

What Causes Alzheimer’s disease? 4

Family History Has Complex Role in Alzheimer's Risk. 4

Alzheimer's Symptoms 4

Diagnosing Alzheimer's: How Alzheimer's is diagnosed . 6

Stages of Alzheimer’s disease. 6

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What Is Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior.
Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere
with daily tasks.
Alzheimer's and dementia basics
 Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and
other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease
accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
 Alzheimer's is not a normal part of aging, although the greatest known risk factor is
increasing age, and the majority of people with Alzheimer's are 65 and older. But
Alzheimer's is not just a disease of old age. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease
have early onset Alzheimer's (also known as younger-onset), which often appears when
someone is in their 40s or 50s.
 Alzheimer's worsens over time. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, where dementia
symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. In its early stages, memory loss is
mild, but with late-stage Alzheimer's, individuals lose the ability to carry on a conversation
and respond to their environment. Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the
United States. Those with Alzheimer's live an average of eight years after their symptoms
become noticeable to others, but survival can range from four to 20 years, depending on
age and other health conditions.
 Alzheimer's has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms are available and research
continues. Although current Alzheimer's treatments cannot stop Alzheimer's from
progressing, they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve
quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide
effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it
from developing.

What Does Alzheimer's Do to the Brain?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects 5 million people in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s
Association. The progressive disease disrupts memory and thinking. It also impairs and eventually
kills brain cells.
This impairment can lead to symptoms that include:
 forgetfulness
 difficulty with time
 language problems
 inability to recognize loved ones
Read more to learn about the changes in brain structure, function, and chemistry that result from
AD.
Plaque forms
In AD, a protein called beta-amyloid shows up in irregular clumps or clusters in the brain. This
protein comes from a precursor protein found in a fatty membrane that covers nerve cells.
The clumps of beta-amyloid fragments stick together to form plaque. These sticky clusters
interrupt signals between synapses. Synapses are the spaces between nerve cells where
information passes from one cell to another.

What Causes Alzheimer’s disease?

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As the Alzheimer’s Association explains, Alzheimer’s disease is the result of a number of factors
rather than a single cause. However, experts agree that Alzheimer’s stems from the abnormal
buildup of plaques (beta-amyloid protein fragments) between nerve cells in the brain. Through
each Alzheimer’s stage, tangled pieces of these plaques destroy more brain cells, eventually
causing fatal damage.

Family History Has Complex Role in Alzheimer's Risk

The role of family history on a person's risk for Alzheimer's disease appears to be more complex
than previously recognized, a new study shows.
Scientists once thought that the bulk of genetic risk for late-onset Alzheimer's lay in a set of genes,
called ApoE genes, that make a protein that carries cholesterol around the body.
Indeed, several companies have tried to capitalize on the connection between ApoE and
Alzheimer's by offering tests that can tell people which version of the ApoE gene they carry.
Now a new study shows that people can still get the kind of brain changes linked to Alzheimer's if
they have a family history but don't carry ApoE4, the gene thought to increase Alzheimer's risk.
The study is published in the Archives of Neurology.
"It's a really good study," says Robyn Honea, DPhil, an assistant professor in the Alzheimer's
disease Center at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kan. Honea was not
involved in the research.
"This is showing that there are other mechanisms at work that are just as related to the disease
process as ApoE4," Honea tells WebMD. "And the variety of biomarker tests that they're using in
this study really makes that argument because they're really covering the gamut, looking for
Alzheimer's-like brains in the most comprehensive way possible."
"This is going along with a lot of other data that myself and others are putting out there that
there's a kind of unique genetic mechanism involved outside of this gene," Honea says.

Alzheimer's Symptoms

At first, increasing forgetfulness or mild confusion may be the only symptoms of Alzheimer's
disease that you notice. But over time, the disease robs you of more of your memory, especially
recent memories. The rate at which symptoms worsen varies from person to person.
If you have Alzheimer's, you may be the first to notice that you're having unusual difficulty
remembering things and organizing your thoughts. Or you may not recognize that anything is
wrong, even when changes are noticeable to your family members, close friends or co-workers.
Brain changes associated with Alzheimer's disease lead to growing trouble with:
Memory
Everyone has occasional memory lapses. It's normal to lose track of where you put your keys or
forget the name of an acquaintance. But the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease
persists and worsens, affecting your ability to function at work and at home.
People with Alzheimer's may:

 Repeat statements and questions over and over, not realizing that they've asked the
question before
 Forget conversations, appointments or events, and not remember them later
 Routinely misplace possessions, often putting them in illogical locations
 Get lost in familiar places

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  Eventually forget the names of family members and everyday objects
 Have trouble finding the right words to identify objects, express thoughts or take part in
conversations

Thinking and reasoning

Alzheimer's disease causes difficulty concentrating and thinking, especially about abstract concepts
like numbers.
Multitasking is especially difficult, and it may be challenging to manage finances, balance
checkbooks and pay bills on time. These difficulties may progress to inability to recognize and deal
with numbers.
Making judgments and decisions
Responding effectively to everyday problems, such as food burning on the stove or unexpected
driving situations, becomes increasingly challenging.
Planning and performing familiar tasks
Once-routine activities that require sequential steps, such as planning and cooking a meal or
playing a favorite game, become a struggle as the disease progresses. Eventually, people with
advanced Alzheimer's may forget how to perform basic tasks such as dressing and bathing.
Changes in personality and behavior
Brain changes that occur in Alzheimer's disease can affect the way you act and how you feel.
People with Alzheimer's may experience:

 Depression
 Apathy
 Social withdrawal
 Mood swings
 Distrust in others
 Irritability and aggressiveness
 Changes in sleeping habits
 Wandering
 Loss of inhibitions
 Delusions, such as believing something has been stolen

Many important skills are not lost until very late in the disease. These include the ability to read,
dance and sing, enjoy old music, engage in crafts and hobbies, tell stories, and reminisce.
This is because information, skills and habits learned early in life are among the last abilities to be
lost as the disease progresses; the part of the brain that stores this information tends to be
affected later in the course of the disease. Capitalizing on these abilities can foster successes and
maintain quality of life even into the moderate phase of the disease.

Diagnosing Alzheimer's: How Alzheimer's is diagnosed

To diagnose Alzheimer's dementia, doctors conduct tests to assess memory impairment and other
thinking skills, judge functional abilities, and identify behavior changes. They also perform a series
of tests to rule out other possible causes of impairment.
To diagnose Alzheimer's dementia, doctors evaluate your signs and symptoms and conduct several
tests.
An accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia is an important first step to ensure you have
appropriate treatment, care, family education and plans for the future.

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Diagnosing Alzheimer's dementia
To diagnose Alzheimer's dementia, your primary doctor, a doctor trained in brain conditions
(neurologist) or a doctor trained to treat older adults (geriatrician) will review your medical history,
medication history and your symptoms. Your doctor will also conduct several tests.
During your appointment, your doctor will evaluate:

 Whether you have impaired memory or thinking (cognitive) skills

 Whether you exhibit changes in personality or behaviors
 The degree of your memory or thinking impairment or changes
 How your thinking problems affect your ability to function in daily life
 The cause of your symptoms

Doctors may order additional laboratory tests, brain-imaging tests or send you for memory testing.
These tests can provide doctors with useful information for diagnosis, including ruling out other
conditions that cause similar symptoms.

Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

1. Early Stage Alzheimer’s: The earliest stages of Alzheimer’s may begin 20 years or more
before diagnosis. At this point, plaques and tangles begin to form in parts of the brain that
impact learning, memory, thinking and planning. Medical tests cannot yet detect
Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages.

2. Mild to Moderate Alzheimer’s: As Alzheimer’s progresses to moderate stages, more

plaques and tangles develop in areas of the brain important to memory, thinking and
planning, and spread to areas that affect speech. These changes cause noticeable memory
loss, confusion and communication problems that can impact an individual’s work and
personal life. Often, Alzheimer’s is diagnosed in this stage.

3. Mild to moderate Alzheimer’s stages can last from two to 10 years. During this time period,
individuals may struggle to recognize friends and family members. They may also
experience personality and behavior changes.

4. Late Stage Alzheimer’s: The most severe stage of Alzheimer’s can last from one to five
years. Most of the brain’s outer layer, which scientists have mapped to thinking, memory,
movement and other functions, has been permanently damaged.

5. Widespread cell death causes the brain to shrink. At this point, individuals no longer
recognize friends and family. They also lose their ability to communicate and care for
themselves.